Brother act - DeBoom family finishes 1-2; Badmann tops women's race

CAMP PENDLETON -- With the lyrics of the BTO anthem "Takin' Care
of Business" echoing across the beach as he finished, Tim DeBoom
did just that Saturday in the second annual Isuzu Ironman
California.

DeBoom and Natascha Badmann both took care of business and raced
away to the overall titles on an overcast day at Camp Pendleton,
establishing themselves as the latest superstars of the sport.

The race was tainted by the death of a participant on the bike
course. Perry Rendina, 45, of Shalersville, Ohio, died in a crash
on the second loop.

DeBoom, 30, was pushed throughout the day by his older brother
Tony, who was alongside his sibling as the came out of the 2.4-mile
swim portion of the Ironman and was still shadowing his brother as
they finished the 112-mile bike ride around the base.

"It was like a long training day," Tim said about spending hours
of swimming, biking and running with his brother. "We've talked
about this for years, where we have a race that works out this
way."

The DeBooms, who hail from Boulder, Colo., overtook pace-setter
Craig Walton of Australia about eight miles into the marathon run.
Walton had a stellar swim in the Del Mar Boat Basin with a time of
45 minutes, 22 seconds, and he still had a commanding lead of
nearly 2 1/2 minutes as he exited the transition area onto the run
course.

"I was having a great time, and it was a great atmosphere," said
Walton, a member of Australia's Olympic triathlon team competing in
his first Ironman event. "I felt great the whole way until the last
20K. That's something I've got to work on."

The DeBoom brothers both went on to break 3 hours in the
marathon, Tim setting a new course record at 2:44:22 and Tony
running a personal-best marathon split of 2:49:20.

"I found a little bit of my stride that I'd been looking for allday," said Tim, a runner-up finisher last fall in the Ironman World
Championship in Hawaii and winner of the 1999 Ironman New Zealand,his only other Ironman victory.

Said Tony: "Every time we came to an aid station, I had to surge
to catch up with him. My legs are really broken down, but that's
the first time I've run the whole marathon and not stopped for at
least two seconds."

Defending men's champion Chris Legh, the Aussie who trains out
of Cardiff, placed fourth in 8:41:59, which bettered his winning
time of 8:56:10 last year, when the swim course measured long.
Japanese standout Shingo Tani raced to a 2:48:50 marathon to finish
fifth in 8:50:13.

Badmann, the Swiss star who claimed her second Ironman World
Championship last fall in Hawaii, quickly erased the seven-minute
deficit she faced coming out the water and claimed the women's
title in 9:18:48. Ironman legend Paula Newby-Fraser of Encinitas,
an eight-time world champion, showed she still can contend by
placing second in 9:32:39, while Beth Zinkand of Davis was third in
9:45:02.

Badmann, sporting a broad smile whenever she biked or ran
through the Ironman Village, took her time acknowledging the
spectators as she wrapped up her victory.

"When I knew I had a mile left, and I knew my advantage, I
thought, `Whoo!' This is it," said Badmann, 34. "I wanted to enjoy
that last mile, it was my payoff."

Newby-Fraser, a 22-time Ironman champion who did not race here
last year, moved up from seventh place after the swim to her
runner-up finish.

"Natascha came by me like I was going backward," she said. "It's
as big a shock to me as anyone else, but I didn't have any real low
spots the whole day."

Newby-Fraser, 38, overcame what she called "a few
technicalities" on her way to the finish.

"I got kicked in the mouth on the swim, my chain fell off my
bike and I got a drafting penalty, so I had to stand down for three
minutes," she said. "But when I got back on the bike, I felt better
than I had all day."

Newby-Fraser said she dedicated her effort to defending women's
champion Heather Fuhr of Sorrento Valley, whose mother passed away
just before the Ironman World Championship last fall.

"This was my memorial to Heather," Newby-Fraser said. "She had a
tough day."

Fuhr was mere seconds behind Badmann out of the water, but she
withdrew from the run after finishing the bike more than 31 minutes
behind the leader.